


Robin and Marian

by RisingPhoenix761



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Prison, F/M, Ficlet, bethyl au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 10:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16785409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisingPhoenix761/pseuds/RisingPhoenix761
Summary: They called him Robin Hood...





	Robin and Marian

Word traveled fast among the inmates even before they brought him in, and the moment Daryl Dixon set foot in the yard every eye was on him. He had a reputation already.

They called him Robin Hood, a cat burglar breaking into the homes of the wealthy and making off with their valuables, which had a habit of turning up in pawn shops and other markets for stolen goods. The money from the haul made its way to shelters, food banks, orphanages, and the like. All anybody knew about the thief was that he was efficient, never kept what he stole, and had been seen fleeing the scene only once with a crossbow hung over his shoulder.

Nobody knew why he did it, or how he got started. And nobody, _nobody_ , knew he had help doing it.

That was Daryl’s consolation, looking at a long sentence after the law finally caught up to them. They had slipped up on a job and weren’t as careful as they should have been, and it was a shock to hear the sirens and see the flashing lights outside the window. Trapped. But he’d be damned if he let her go down with him, telling her to run and hide while he put up enough of a fight to keep the cops distracted. They led him to the squad car in handcuffs, but they never found her.

All through the trial, the prosecutors and his own lawyer tried to talk him into giving up any accomplices and get a reduced sentence. Every time, he shut them down. He acted alone, there were no accomplices, and he was the only one to be held accountable. He saw her in the courtroom every day, sitting in the back where no one would see her, tears pouring down her face. It killed him to see her cry, but if it meant her freedom, then so be it.

He was transferred out of the county jail after his sentencing, on the other side of the damn map, hardly expecting to see her again. He avoided trouble when he could and spent most of his time alone in his cell, wondering how things could have turned out like this. They had been all each other had, barely scraping by until they were evicted from their sad little apartment and left with no options. When he started stealing, it was for her, all for her, until she saw a bigger picture. Robbing the rich to feed the poor. After that, she found the best marks, getting a feel for which places they should hit and donating the loot once they turned it into cash. They didn’t have much, but they had each other and their crazy mission. Now, though? Just memories of her to keep him going.

There was no way she could make it out here to visit. It was too far, the trip too expensive. He didn’t even know where she went after she got away, whether she found shelter somewhere, how she was surviving, anything. The thought of what could have befallen her kept him awake most nights, sick with worry.

He’d lost track of his days on the inside when the guards sought him out and told him he had a visitor. His lawyer, probably, still trying to appeal his case, though it was a lost cause and everyone knew it. He knew who he _wanted_ it to be, but that was even more unlikely than getting his conviction overturned…

Though as they led him to the visiting area and he saw her sitting there, her entire face lighting up as soon as she laid eyes on him, he felt lucky enough to ask the judge himself for a pardon. His partner in crime, the love of his life, Beth Greene.

Or, as the papers would have called her, Maid Marian.


End file.
